Siamese Twin Ale | Uncommon Brewers

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Pours nice and toasted brown with some central light etching. Smells of lime, some sweet syrups, a little bit of belgian yeasts, some coriander, and the lemon grass. Taste is lightly tart, some alcohol, some bitterness, some candy. Medium on full body with hi carb and a semi dry finish. Not a good beer really.

A: Pours a murky maroon color. Slight translucence at the edges reveal active bubbles coming up the glass, which fuel the enormous, fluffy off-white foam cap that fills the glass. As it recedes into a half-finger film on the brew, it deposits sticky lacing down the sides.

S: Has 'traditional' dubbel flavors with raisins and coriander, but it is also floral and lime-like. Some yeast and grass. Oh - and booze.

T: Lime, grass, and yeast up front. Raisins and brown sugar in the mid-taste. Coriander and a light ethanol evaporation in the finish. Actually a pretty interesting flavor, but it needs some tweaks to integrate well. It's just kind of muddled and rough right now. The lemon in particular accentuates the booze and reminds me of that burn you get from cheap gin and tonics.

M: Medium-bodied with a chewy texture. High carbonation, but it doesn't remove the slightly-hotter-than-warming effect.

D: I'm not quick to write these guys off, because they obviously have some mad scientist tendencies that could pay off with some excellent beers down the line. This just isn't their magnum opus yet.

Man I remember when they used to bring this shit to Canfest. Pours a dark amber to light red kind of color, nothing different genre SRM wise going on here, looks the part, 3/4" off white head on the top. Aroma starts to veer left from the middle, the lime is just weird, but it was mostly malt heavy dark bread kind of smells.

Taste, certainly has a dubbel base (bass, how low can you go?). Its like a mix of lime leaves, spice rack and dark bready malts. Too much spice rack for sure, the lime could be less too. Shit is just clashing hardcore with tradition right now. The alcohol is way too noticeable, and the lime contributes a degree of bitterness that just isn't acceptable for this style of beer. Dark bread and dark fruit notes punish the mouth feel here.

Its one thing to make a weird beer, but when its weird and not pleasant, hard pass.

Before I get into the details this is one of the weirder more difficult beers to reassure because of how much it changes as it warms. The can does say to serve at cellar temperature, but the pub served it fridge cold. At first I quite liked it although I couldn't really make out the flavors on the can. Eventually it opened up more and the flavors really didn't do it for me.

Smell: I have been recovering from a cold, but that was last week and I can still barely pick up any notes other than malt, even then it's weak.

taste: This is the toughest for me as it changed so much as the temperature did. It started off just reminding me of a winter spiced ale with the flavors staying far in the background , I picked up a bit of the kaffir leaves at the end but that was still subtle. I would have rated it a solid 3.5+ at this point. Unfortunately it went downhill from here, as it warmed and got closer to the recommended temp it got sweet, sickly sweet even. The corriander came out as did the lemongrass but that just made the beer more cloying and medicinal tasting. This was a very rough one to finish, and I wonder if the pint serving has something to do with that as well.

Mouthfeel: actually one of the better things about this beer, if you get past the taste it has a good mouthfeel that makes you want to drink this, if it tastes better, very smooth in the mouth and you wouldn't guess it's an 8.5% brew

Ultimately, I wouldn't try this beer again and can't imagine recommending it to anyone.

Poured slowly into a Bruery tulip. This beer is a muddy brown and seems to be quite thick. The smell when I opened the can was a bit worrying. I got a whiff of rusty metal and old beer. Upon properly smelling the beer I get definite hints of ginger and lemongrass mixed with the sweet and alcohol qualities of a dubbel. None of the smells stand out though and if I were to blind taste this beer I would be wary of how it tasted after smelling it.

Not much to taste on the front but after that the beer washes over your mouth coating it with a bitter sweetness with perhaps just a bit of ginger spiciness. Aftertaste is plain and malty. I taste absolutely no Belgian yeast in this.

I'm pretty disappointed in this beer. I was excited when I found a store selling single cans of it because I was unwilling to buy a 4-pack of it where I normally buy all my beer.

16 fl oz aluminum can served into a conical Guinness pint glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are above average; I like the style but I don't know that I've ever had a good one from a can.

Served straight from the refrigerator and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a 1.5 finger light khaki head of okay cream, okay thickness, and pretty good retention considering the high ABV. Colour is a deep chestnut-amber. Nontransparent. Non-opaque. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show.

Sm: Belgian biscuit malt, cream, amber hops, and toasted malt. I don't get any spice or coriander. A very mild strength aroma.

T: Amber hops, some toasted malt, biscuit malt, amber hopping, and caramelization. A strange build for a dubbel. Tries too hard with its spices, never reaching the level of a good trappist example of the style. Very simple, to its detriment. Not particularly enjoyable. No alcohol or yeast comes through.

Mf: Smooth and wet, with some bad coarseness and dryness. Too thick for its lack of good body. Carbonation is off.

Dr: Drinkable but boring. I wouldn't get it again. A disappointment. Pretty underwhelming for the style.

This beer smells like hairspray. I'm sure there is some very technical term that would impress everyone. But hey. I don't know it. Anyways. This doesnt really work for me. I could have done without it. Unfortunately, that seems to be the theme for this brewery, for me.

MF- High carbonation stings the tongue and it lacks that silky smooth feel of good Dubbels. Bitter and warm finish on the palate.

I like innovation but the spices they chose did not mix all that well with a Dubbel for me. Too much lime and coriander doesn't mix with the medicinal dark fruit base beer. Drinkable but harsh and not something I'll get again.

Thanks again to Tyler for grabbing this one for me. Poured into 10oz glass. Poured a slightly cloudy version the reddish-brown color typical of the style. The aroma was a combination of the malty sweetness of the style and the different than usual spices added to this one.

On the tongue the spices pop across the tongue in an unexpected manner and linger with the malt and yeast at the back of the tongue. The body was on the thin side of average for the style. Drinkability will depend on your taste for the spices, personally, I probably wouldn't have more than a couple in a row. This is a unique take on the style, worth trying.

Edit 2/19/13: Had this again, not sure why it's listed here as Dubbel, but whatevs. I found the blend of flavors and spices here to really be a weird mess. The body had a sharp, harsh bite at the back. It wasn't an easy beer to drink, I suggest avoiding this one.

Picked up a 16 oz. can for $2.75, no canning date on the bottom. I wasn't terribly impressed by their Golden State Ale, but this is worse. Frankly it reminds me of failed homebrew.

I dont know, maybe this beer was kept in a hot warehouse for a month, or something went wrong between Santa Cruz and Pennsylvania, but I don't enjoy it. There's an odd grassy (not like hops) caramel taste. There's a hint of the kaffir lime that's added I can pull out of the aftertaste, but that's one of the few bright spots. Frankly this smells a bit like an Indian buffet with the coriander and lemongrass additions. I'm not sure what to make of this beer, but I don't want another can.

If The Bruery can make a tripel with Asian spices, why not Uncommon Brewers with a dubbel? Bought this in Santa Cruz, and it's a beer that would make my Siamese cat proud. On to the beer:

Not much of a head forms on top of this beer. The appearance is on target to style: cloudy caramel orange color, with tanned hues and some brown hues. There are some dark fruits in the nose. A smell something sweet n' spicy....it must be those spices. Peppery.

I'm not getting a whole lot of malty goodness. A little bit of plum emerges underneath whatver oddball spices are there. There is a good amount of heat from the alcohol at first, but as time passes it cools some. Peppery flavor begins to dominate during the second half of the time the beer is in the mouth. A little spice and plum in the aftertaste.

Ehh....not the most memorable beer I've had. The overall flavor isn't doing the trick, and it seems a little thin and overspiced in the mouth. Maybe dubbels aren't ideal to have added spices?

16 ounce can from Ledger's in Berkeley, poured into a pint glass, color is a golden amber color, 3/4 inch foamy white head that leaves lacing on the top of the glass, decent retention, smell was all over the place with lemongrass, raisins, coriander, bubble gum, lime, and booze, flavor starts off slightly spicy, some grassy accents mixed with fruit in the middle, finish has some dark fruit and a syrupy alcohol bite, Belgian yeast is overpowered by the bready malt once it warms, slightly sweet, spicy, chewy, and fruity mouthfeel, medium bodied on the fuller side, taste lingers, needs more carbonation, could not drink more than this serving as I barely got through this, heavy on the stomach, thickness got to me after a while, booze are not hidden either, first beer from this brewery, one of the weirdest dubbels I have ever tasted, not in a rush to drink this again, might be worth trying